


Best Practice

by petrodobreva



Category: Schitt's Creek (TV) RPF
Genre: Everyone is Single - Freeform, M/M, Practice Kissing, set during Season 4 shooting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 06:53:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30051582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petrodobreva/pseuds/petrodobreva
Summary: Season 4 shooting has only just begun, and Dan is already so busy. But tonight, he and Noah are getting together to work on the way their characters might look interacting on camera. It's a practice kissing fic!
Relationships: Dan Levy/Noah Reid
Comments: 23
Kudos: 63





	Best Practice

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is RPF, if you're not into that, maybe skip this one. It's also my first RPF fic. This premise has been in my ideas folder for 200 years but I knew I would write it one day. And here we are! I hope you enjoy <3

Dan hates hotels. He hates that they all have the same, disconcerting empty scent. He hates that he can count all the ways the owners have cheapened out on every amenity. He hates how impersonal they are, how generic, how they try to fit the needs of everyone and therefore satisfy no one.

But it’s better than being at home right now where he would have to worry about the trash and his sheets, where he is likely to get distracted by his clothes and his books and all the little things around the apartment he wants to change.

The air conditioning kicks on the moment he enters his room. He kicks off his shoes, puts down his bag and pads over to turn the vent down. _Always too cold_ is another bullet on the hotel-cons list. He takes a deep breath and plops back onto his bed. His feet hurt and his back hurts and he can’t decide if he would rather sleep or eat, though he knows he can do neither. It’s maybe a bad sign that they’re only five days into shooting, and he’s already exhausted and over-scheduled.

It’s always like this, though. He takes longer to adjust than what should be necessary, and by then, his days are already filled to bursting. He hauls himself up to rummage around in his bag for his day planner. There’s no good reason he should have his own personal day planner. He has an assistant, after all. He just finds he doesn’t have much time to delegate, and he needs his notes, his schedule, in front of him to think. Writing things down helps him think. He gets his money’s worth with Elisa in other ways. The email responses alone have added three years to his life at least.

He doesn’t have to look at his agenda. He has the entry memorized; the appointment blocked off in black permanent marker, the description just one word. _Noah_.

The black marker trick is one he uses sparingly, just for the things he can’t go back on, the most important things. Usually that means friends and family time. For the show, it means character development.

After the first table read for Season 4, Dan approached Noah with a recommendation. Early on, he and Annie had gotten together over lunches on set to choreograph different ways their bodies might convey a sibling relationship growing closer, like David imitating Alexis’ dinosaur hands, or the lilt in Alexis’ voice when she says “ _Oh_ my god.” He thought maybe he and Noah should do the same.

He can still feel the warmth of Noah’s hand resting on his upper arm when he said, “Yeah, yeah I think that’s a really good idea.”

Dan lays back down, trying to get his heart rate under control. He gives up after five minutes that won’t go by quickly enough. He digs out his phone.

_Takeout instead?_

Three dots appear, then disappear, then the message arrives.

_Be there in 20_

One of the best views in the world is that of a friend carrying pizza. Noah waits at Dan’s door, holding the box over his shoulder like a server in tails holds a tray.

“You’re early,” Dan says.

A grin breaks out over Noah’s face, and Dan relaxes. They haven’t seen each other since the table read, and before that, Stacey’s Easter party. He forgot what this really felt like. In-person Noah is so much fuller, and better, and more complete than the Noah in his head.

They settle around the tiny hotel table and distribute the napkins between them. Noah teases Dan with his eyes when he puts two on each of his thighs.

“How was today?” Noah asks.

Dan sighs. “Good! Great, actually. The Episode 2 cold open is one of the best. I think Catherine screeched sixteen different ways, each one hilarious. I had such a hard time not breaking.”

“Eh, what else is new?” Noah clenches his jaw to hide his smile, but Dan still sees it. “It’s so good to be back. I can’t wait to get on set tomorrow.”

Dan nods. “It’ll be fun.”

“And I’ll get to act with Steve.”

“Yes! Steve! He’s going to be great.”

“That entire scene is brilliantly written.”

Dan sighs. “I had to rework a couple of the beats. It’ll be better when it gets legs.”

Noah cocks his head and looks like he wants to say something contrarian, but he just shakes his head. “Of course it will, but it’s already good.”

It’s an exchange they’ve had plenty of times. Dan always says the writing isn’t good enough until it’s performed, and Noah always says that the writing makes the show and then they bicker about it until they get interrupted.

Noah finishes his pizza and leans back in his chair to aim and toss his napkin into the trash like a basketball player or a middle schooler. And Dan knows Noah knows it drives him crazy, so he does his best to keep his frustrated huff as quiet as possible. Not quietly enough, though, because Noah smirks and shoots Dan a look that says, _What? I got it in_.

The front legs of Noah’s chair touch ground again and Dan lets out a breath in embarrassing relief. It always makes him nervous when people lean back in their chairs like that. “So,” Noah says. “David and Patrick.”

“David and Patrick,” Dan repeats.

Noah stands and holds a hand out to Dan, like he is inviting him to dance. Dan takes it, and Noah leads him to the middle of the carpeted floor. Dan expects for Noah’s hand to drop away from his, but it doesn’t, he holds fast.

“So, I think, the most important thing,” Noah says, as he lifts Dan’s hand up to his chest. His skin is warm under Dan’s fingers. “Is that we get comfortable with each other. Right?”

Dan nods. “Yeah.”

He’s been nervous about it. Part of him just wanted to skip this and fling himself into the scene, like he usually does. Like he did with the first kiss. Take advantage of the new feeling, let it reflect in front of the camera.

But that won’t work for tomorrow. Tomorrow, Patrick and David are supposed to have touched each other, kissed each other enough to no longer hesitate. And he knows from his work with Annie how effective this kind of choreography can be.

“Are you...what are your boundaries?”

Noah smiles and just shakes his head. “What are yours?”

Dan sighs. “I’m not...I don’t know? I think we just, I mean, they just kiss. That’s the most they do in the script.”

“It’s really sweet. They’re a really sweet couple.”

“That’s the idea.”

Noah drops Dan’s hand in favor of grabbing both of Dan’s shoulders. “It’s going to be okay.” Noah fixes Dan with a look reminiscent of coaches and their athletes. “We can go for it. You’re not going to make me uncomfortable. And if I am uncomfortable, then that’s good, that can be good to work with.”

Dan didn’t realize his shoulders were so tense. He lets them fall. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Why don’t we start with a hug?” Noah steps back and opens his arms.

“Good idea.” Dan steps into them, and they hug like they always do, neither of them under the other—Dan with one arm over Noah’s shoulder, the other under.

“Okay, so we’re just going to stand here for a while.” Noah’s voice vibrates under Dan’s ear.

“How long is a while?”

Noah grips tighter around Dan’s ribcage. “Until you relax.”

Dan chuckles, and it’s a release. He sags more of his weight into Noah’s solid body.

“Yeah, like that.”

Noah is warm and solid underneath him, and Dan wills his own body to behave. He and Noah, they’re becoming friends, but it’s still new. And he trusts him. He’s done such a good job playing the part of attraction. He’s all loving gazes and emotional baritone, and he leans into the banter. He’s so convincing, convincing enough for Dan to trust him not to fuck it up. But it’s still nerve-wracking sometimes. Noah is...destabilizing, to say the least. He’s so earnest and confident, and he’s just _there_ all the time. He smells good, and gives good eye contact. And Dan has been single for way too long. He can’t not be affected by Noah, it’s only natural.

“It’s okay,” Noah says. “Whatever you’re feeling, just feel it.”

Dan shifts his weight from one foot to the other. Their breathing is synced so that their bellies press together with every inhale. Noah slides a hand down and up Dan’s back.

“Could we—”

“Let’s try—” Noah leans back slightly to get both of his arms around Dan’s waist, and Dan’s arms go around Noah’s shoulders and— “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They fit together like puzzle pieces. Noah’s chin fits right there on Dan’s shoulder, his cheek hot against Dan’s flush neck.

“This. There’s something here,” Noah says.

“Yeah.”

Noah’s hands on Dan’s back start moving in soothing circles, and Dan melts.

“Touch my neck,” Noah instructs.

Dan’s breath catches, and his hands pause their tentative stroke across Noah’s shoulder blades. “Okay,” he breathes.

He places his right hand on the expanse of skin between Noah’s hairline and the collar of his overstretched t-shirt. His pinky dips under the stitching and grazes the ridge of Noah’s spine. He hears Noah suck in a short breath.

“It’s okay,” Dan says, mirroring Noah’s words back at him. “Whatever you’re feeling, just feel it.” Noah’s responding laughter echoes in Dan’s chest, and both of their grips loosen.

Noah backs away to look at Dan, and his torso feels cold. “So there’s something with this shape. With your arms around my shoulders? It works, right?”

For Noah, Dan smiles. “Yeah.”

Noah huffs. “It’s sort of like slow dances in high school.”

Dan has thought a lot about ways that he and Noah could fit together on screen. He’s thought about the way Bridget and Mark hold each other at the end of _Bridget Jones’ Diary_ , and the way Anna and Will make a shape with their bodies on the park bench in _Notting Hill_ , and the way the boys walk around with the girls in the hallways in every teen movie from the last thirty years. He wants to make the same kind of shapes with David and Patrick.

And with a scene partner like Noah, whom he trusts, and who is making space for them to figure it out—it could really work.

“I do like your shoulders.” He wants to speak it to the floor, but he lets the words hang between them, letting Noah look at him when he says it. “I could—” he lifts his hands and reaches them toward Noah, who nods, eyes wide and sincere, inviting Dan in.

He and Noah talked about what it’s like to slip into their characters. They joked about Noah’s accidentally too-short haircut and how, when he sees himself in the mirror like that, he slips into Patrick mode. He says that Patrick lingers for most of the summer. For Dan, the line between himself and David is glasses, or the lack thereof. He thinks he has an easier time slipping in and out.

“ _Probably because you’re so much busier than David_ ,” Noah said. “ _You’ve got a lot on your plate_.”

Dan’s hands meet the dips of Noah’s shoulders and he squeezes. Noah’s lips turn in his upside down smile that Dan’s dad teases him about. Dan loves this contact. He feels a sense of release, of indulgence. He kneads at the muscles around Noah’s neck. His fingers have itched to touch Noah like this for a while. In their months of separation, it's become somewhat of a fixation. And now Noah is letting him, encouraging him to do it as long as it takes him to relax.

“I think David should touch Patrick’s shoulders a lot like this,” Dan says. “Even compulsively.” Dan demonstrates his meaning by clutching at Noah’s upper arms, petting the ridge where arm meets neck.

Noah lets him linger there in the exploration for more time than can be passed off as a tease. Noah always makes him do this. Catherine makes him do it, too—lean into the discomfort so he can find sincerity. It’s annoying, even more so because it’s effective.

“It’s so funny.” Noah’s tone is pensive. Dan carries his weight as Noah leans into his touch. “I think Patrick is used to being the tall one, the big one in a relationship.”

Dan clutches his shoulders and nods. Noah’s hands grasp at Dan’s waist. The shock of the contact makes him wince. It’s not unpleasant, quite the opposite. It’s too pleasurable, he likes it too much, parts of his body clench unbidden to keep from giving himself away.

 _Let yourself feel it_.

It’s his own voice in his head. And Noah’s. And his acting professor in film school, and Catherine, and his dad. Dan forces himself to breathe. He anticipates that when he looks back at Noah, he might see an expression of knowing, or teasing, something to help them distance from the tentative, risky nature of this moment. But instead, all he sees is open softness, a slow blink from feathered eyelashes. Noah’s fingers grip just a little bit more tightly at Dan’s waist and he shivers. His dick grows a bit heavier and he curses every decision he’s made that has led him to this moment.

He tries to back away but Noah’s arms circle around his waist. “It’s okay.” Noah’s voice is rough and low and it reminds Dan why Noah is here in the first place, the unexpected intensity he can pull out of his unassuming frame. “This is why we’re here.”

Dan stares at Noah. Noah whose hands are digging into his sides, whose gaze is fixed on Dan’s in a challenge, who brought Dan pizza and rubbed Dan’s back when he started stressing during the table read.

“Let’s kiss,” Noah says, and before Dan can say anything, Noah’s lips are on his. A little left of center, as Noah has very little leverage, and Noah chuckles. Dan slides his hands toward Noah’s neck and kisses him back, fully on the mouth, in an echo of their first kiss on set. And their twentieth first kiss.

Noah’s lips are warm and dry, and he inhales, body falling into Dan’s. Dan pulls away from Noah with a soft sound of lips breaking away from lips. Noah’s lids are hooded and he looks at Dan like he’s just waking up. His wrists have gone limp around Dan’s waist.

“More,” Noah breathes.

 _Fuck it_. Dan pushes away the last ounce of his resolve and crashes their mouths together. Noah moans and _What the fuck is happening_? Noah’s hands, in a decidedly out-of-character move, lift to change configuration, pulling Dan in by the shoulders. So Dan lets go of Noah’s head, and their weights shift, and control moves to Noah, who grabs Dan’s right hand and pulls it around to rest on the small of his back. Their noses press together, pushing Dan’s glasses into his skull, so he pulls them off and holds them in a hand dangling over Noah’s shoulder, not wanting to release Noah for too long.

Dan grabs at Noah’s shirt and hangs on, unable to find a center. Noah’s lips part and Dan gets a hint of his tongue, the heat of his breath a shock to Dan’s system. Dan lets his mouth fall open, because he can’t not. He can’t refuse this moment, now that it’s here.

“This is good, yeah?” Noah murmurs against Dan’s lips, between kisses.

“Mhmm,” Dan hums. “It’s good.”

They don’t speak again for a long stretch of time, filled with desperate pulls of lips and teeth. When their tongues finally touch, Dan registers it as perhaps a smidge too far, but neither of them pull back. They just keep pushing closer into each other. And Dan doesn’t know what this is, or where it leads. But Noah tastes like the ache Dan feels when Noah is around; his throat is dry and Dan is compelled to quench his thirst with Noah’s taste, Noah’s warmth, Noah’s firm touch that keeps growing tighter.

He can feel Noah get hard up against him, but he can’t put it into words in his head. He can't attach any meaning to it, so he doesn’t try. He just keeps kissing Noah, not wanting to miss a moment. Later, he might find himself drowning his sorrows in overpriced wine and piles of pillows. But not right now. Right now, he has Noah under his hands, flush up against him, and he’s going to grab every moment.

Enough time passes that all pretense of practicing or acting abandons them. But no matter what, no matter how much Dan wants to push Noah into his bed and find out what else they can do with this feeling, that can’t happen tonight. Dan is technically Noah’s boss, Noah is important to him, they have a show to shoot. This can’t go any farther.

So Dan gives Noah a long, sweet, kiss with closed lips. Then another short one, and another for good measure. He backs away and puts his glasses back on. He lets Noah keep his hand around Dan’s waist.

“So I think there are some things we can work with here.”

Noah sighs, and his dimples appear. They lean against each other.

“Yeah,” Noah says.

Dan already has plans for when they get to Goodwood and into the store. He imagines slotting between Noah’s legs as he sits on the counter, he imagines soft kisses standing against each other in the bright daylight, he imagines how they might angle toward each other in yearning without the relief of physical contact.

He lets go of Noah who says, knowingly, “You’ve got that look on your face that says you have an idea.”

Dan rolls his eyes, and sits down on the bed. “I’ve got lots of ideas. Always.”

“Then I’ll leave you to it.” Noah leans over and presses an unexpected kiss to Dan’s hairline.

“Oh.”

“Was that okay?” Noah asks.

Dan looks from where he was fixated on the textured wall, to Noah’s face. “Oh. Yeah. It was fine,” he says. “Nice, even.”

Noah smiles. “Okay.” He looks around, his gaze lands on the half-empty pizza box.

Dan considers if he will be able to eat any more after Noah leaves, or if the butterflies in his stomach have taken up permanent residence. He should tell Noah to just take it home; the box won’t fit in the hotel minifridge.

“Check this out.” Noah reaches into his pocket and pulls out a folding knife and makes a few quick cuts at the box, removing half of it. Dan doesn’t see how, but Noah manages to refold the box so that it's only half the original size.

“Oh wow,” Dan says. It’s unfair how hot that little life hack display was, especially because now Noah is going to use it as evidence during future arguments about the number of things, of which the knife is the most distasteful, Noah carries around in his pockets.

“Right? Seater taught me that trick.” And to further demonstrate his usefulness, Noah slides the now perfectly-sized box into Dan’s minifridge. He sighs when the door shuts, and looks around the room.

“So, uh…” Noah says to the ceiling. He clears his throat before looking back at Dan. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Dan nods. Part of him wants to tell Noah to stay, to throw caution to the wind and get his hands all over the skin he hasn’t let himself think about, except when he can’t help it. The other part of him needs to get back to work immediately. “Yeah,” he breathes. “Tomorrow.”

There’s a beat where Noah looks like he’s trying to make a decision. And then, he seems to make it and he walks back over to Dan and kisses his cheek, gripping his shoulders. The sound of his lips tickles Dan’s ear.

“It’s going to be great,” Noah murmurs.

“I know,” Dan says. And he does.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [NeelyO](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeelyO) for being a brilliant beta and for all your encouragement. You're my emotional support llama.
> 
> And thank you to [this-is-not-nothing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/this_is_not_nothing/pseuds/this_is_not_nothing) for help with brainstorming and shooting know-how and for opening the arms of the Dan Levy RPF sweater for me in the first place.


End file.
